On our test bench today is Gainward's Golden Sample version of the latest high-end graphics card to be released by ATI, the Radeon HD 4870 1GB version. Rumours and news about this particular model have been around since before the 512MB version made it to launch but it has taken some time for the 1GB model to reach the marketplace and it enters into just a slightly more crowded segment than it would have three months ago. The main reason for this is the release of the 216 unified shader strong GeForce GTX 260 card within the last fortnight. In the original battle it is fair to say that both cards were very close in performance with neither scoring a complete victory. - DriverHeaven

Gainward Radeon HD 4870 1GB Golden Style Review

Gainward package their Radeon HD 4870 1GB in a box which looks quite stylish. There are basic specifications listed and a sticker informs us that this is an enhanced Golden Sample model. Inside the box we find a software CD along with power cables, HDMI to DVI dongle and instruction manual. The card itself looks quite different to the reference version. Gainward have enhanced the cooling on their model providing us with two fans and a three heatpipe design though the cooler has retained its width and is still a dual slot model. On the back of the card there is little to differentiate the two models, and these look the same.

One final difference as far as the main body of the card is concerned is that the memory cooling on the Golden Sample card is performed by air passing over the chips where as on the reference model the main heatsink draws heat away. Changes to the main PCB were not the only thing to happen to the Radeon HD 4870 1GB before Gainward released it, the display outputs are different as well. As the branding suggests this is an overclocked model and rather than the reference clocks of 750MHz core and 3600MHz memory the Golden Sample is set to 775MHz and 4000MHz before leaving the factory.

As always overclocking an ATI based card is very simple, open Catalyst control centre then select Overdrive. Following these steps the ATI software finds a safe overclock for the card which you can then fine tune manually. Using this method we were able to raise out Golden Sample from 775/4000MHz to 790/4760MHz, quite an impressive increase for a card which is already overclocked. As the Gainward Radeon HD 4870 Golden Sample has a completely different cooler to the reference Radeon HD 4870 it should come as no surprise that the card has noticeably different thermal performance, resulting in a cooler operation.

With the release of the Radeon HD 4870 with 1GB memory, ATI is addressing a change in the marketplace created by the recent launch of the GeForce GTX 260 with 216 unified shaders. The NVIDIA card was able to outperform the existing 512MB version by a significant margin which the 1GB version closes and on occasion overturns. The question of which card is better really comes down to the individual and the tasks they will be performing. So ATI had the edge when gaming at higher resolutions with anti-aliasing enabled, and the video functionality such as Blu-ray acceleration is far better on the Radeon HD 4870.

The GeForce GTX 260 however runs cooler and is more flexible for other desktop and gaming tasks such as video encoding and PhysX calculations. With their version of the Radeon HD 4870 card Gainward have taken a very solid product and improved on the design in a number of ways. Firstly the card is faster than the reference version which is always a big bonus, secondly it is cooled more effectively and finally it has a more desirable set of display outputs which are not only future proof but better suited for the needs of all consumers.